Viral faith: the changing face of youth ministry

Youth Ministry across the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn has taken on a new face throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As the current crisis continues to impact our community, it is exciting to see the youthful hope and a viral faith spread throughout our parish and school communities.

The 25 Archdiocesan Youth Ministers have been able to move their youth groups, young adult groups and bible studies online, livestreamed youth masses and praise and worship session, started family groups, conducted remote Youth Ministry Team formation and launched dozens of new initiatives to support those within our parish and school communities.

The current context has also resulted in new emphasis on how our Church communities connect, with new parish Youth Ministry Facebook pages and Instagram accounts continuing to reach thousands of young people. One example of this was the Archdiocesan accounts (@youth.cg) reaching over 25,000 engagements a week.

Above all, Youth Ministry outreach initiatives emphasised collaboration. This can be seen in one upcoming initiative – Online Youth Alpha. Nine Youth Ministers are coming together to conduct an Alpha course for young people in years 10 to 12. Alpha is a formation program that explores the fundamentals of the Christian faith. See their promo video for the Online Canberra Alpha below!